Editor’s note: This story contains offensive language, including racial slurs, that may be unsettling to some readers.
Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe officials are calling on Imperial County Supervisor John Hawk to issue an in-person apology after video surfaced of him using a racial slur to describe a meeting with tribal members earlier this year.
Hawk made the comments during an April meeting of the Imperial County Transportation Commission, the regional transit agency. Hawk said he felt like county officials had been “scalped” during their meeting with Quechan members.
The word “scalp” has a violent and racist history in North America. For centuries, government officials in the U.S. and Mexico paid white settlers to massacre Indigenous people and take their scalps and other body parts as trophies.
In a public letter Wednesday, Quechan Tribe President Jonathan Koteen condemned Hawk’s language.
“Egregious remarks of this kind rely on racial stereotypes about Native people,” Koteen wrote. “The Quechan Nation will not tolerate them from anyone, least of all an elected representative.”
Hawk, a Republican, is currently running for reelection. During the board of supervisors’ meeting earlier this week, he apologized for his remarks, saying they were “insensitive and not thought-through.”
Imperial County Chair Peggy Price also apologized. In a statement addressed to the Quechan Tribe’s Cultural Committee Thursday, Price said the county government did not condone Hawk’s language.
“We recognize that it does not reflect the respect and consideration every community deserves from its elected leaders,” Price wrote.
In a phone call with KPBS Friday, Hawk declined to answer questions on the record but said he stood by Price’s statement and was planning to deliver his apology in-person to the Tribal Council within the next several weeks.
The Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe is one of several federally-recognized tribes in Imperial County. It has close to 2,500 enrolled members, according to the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona.
The tribe’s reservation sits along California’s southeastern edge, between Imperial County and neighboring Yuma County. Quechan people have lived along the Colorado River for millennia, and their ancestral homelands span much of the region.
Earlier this year, dozens of Quechan members met with Hawk to discuss their concerns about a major bridge closure on the reservation.
The overpass, the Picacho Road Bridge, serves as a major access point for the reservation and the neighboring town of Winterhaven, including for local emergency services and the San Pasqual Valley Unified School District.
The bridge is also over a century old and falling apart. A 2022 state inspection found deteriorating timber columns and cracking concrete. Last year, county officials closed the bridge and declared a local state of emergency.
For months, Quechan officials have urged Imperial County leaders to repair the structure quickly. President Koteen said the closure was disrupting daily life for students and elders and delaying emergency response times.
Hawk, whose district includes Winterhaven and part of the reservation, said he and other county officials met with around 75 tribal members.
At the transit agency meeting afterward, Hawk described the meeting as “brutal.” He said people raised concerns about public safety and the health of the local casino.
“They took turns,” he said, and then uttered the slur.
Hawk also said he didn’t know the status of the Picacho Road Bridge repairs.
Hawk’s use of the word was brought to light earlier this week in a social media video by Jake Tison, a local activist and frequent critic of the board of supervisors.
In the video, Tison highlighted the moment from the Transportation Commission meeting and said Hawk’s words raised questions about his commitment to serving the Quechan community.
“Using a degrading and violent racial stereotype to describe hearing the Quechan community’s concerns is disgraceful,” Tison wrote. “These are people you were elected to serve.”
News of Hawk’s use of the slur has angered many Quechan members. Dedra Solomon, a tribal member and chef and designer in Winterhaven, found the supervisor’s language ignorant and disrespectful.
“It’s time to put our foot down and speak up about things,” Solomon told KPBS in a text. “Not letting these people run and win and forget about Winterhaven.”
Ramona Darby, another tribal member, said she was also deeply offended by Hawk’s remarks. But Darby was equally disturbed by the fact that he made the comments about a meeting where tribal community members had come to seek answers and solutions.
“When you hold public office, listening to the concerns of your constituents is part of your responsibility,” Darby wrote to KPBS. “Sometimes people are frustrated. But that doesn’t make their concerns any less important.”
In his letter, President Koteen said tribal members deserved serious answers to their concerns — not to be treated like a punch line.
Koteen also demanded county officials deliver a written timeline within 30 days for securing funding and reopening Picacho Road Bridge and the neighboring Arnold Road Bridge.
He offered to partner with county officials to help pursue additional funding sources, and requested that they provide regular public updates in Winterhaven until both bridges are repaired.
Koteen also asked the county to work with the tribe to develop an emergency plan if Arnold Road Bridge should fail.
“This board has shown before that it can hear Quechan voices and respect our sovereignty,” he wrote. “We expect that same respect now.”
In her statement, Price acknowledged the challenges that the bridge closures have created for the tribe. She said the county was planning to repair Arnold Road Bridge within the next two months.
Price said replacing the Picacho Road Bridge would cost an estimated $8 million. She said the county was in the process of applying for two grants and had reached out to state Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez for support.
According to Price, the county hopes to fully replace the bridge within two years.
